Tension fit insulation

ABSTRACT

An exemplary insulator for a flue of a residential oven includes a bendable insulating body having a first end, a second end, and a bending portion. A first cut is disposed between the bending portion and the first end and a second cut is disposed between the bending portion and the second end. The first cut is expandable to form a first opening and the second cut is expandable to form a second opening.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 62/236,298, filed on Oct. 2, 2015, titled TENSIONFIT INSULATION, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to insulators for residentialappliances, and more specifically to insulators for flues of residentialovens.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Insulators for residential appliances are known to those skilled in theart. Insulators reduce the transfer of heat or sound between anappliance and the surrounding environment. Thermal insulators used inresidential ovens, for example, protect cabinets surrounding the oven.

Residential ovens that burn natural gas to heat up the interior of theoven for cooking food require a flue to allow combustion products to beexpelled from the oven. The ducts used for oven flues reach very hightemperatures and are typically routed through tight spaces that aresurrounded by cabinets. These flues can be heated by the combustiongases to around 700 degrees Fahrenheit and are insulated to protect thesurrounding surfaces. A prior art insulation 100 is shown in FIG. 1. Theinsulator 100 surrounds a flue 102 with a collar of insulation 110having an opening 112 that the flue 102 fits through. The insulationcollar 110 can slide up and down on the flue 102 so an adhesive orfastener is required to hold the insulation in place.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of insulators for flues of residential ovens aredisclosed herein.

An exemplary insulator for a flue of a residential oven includes abendable insulating body having a first end, a second end, and a bendingportion. A first cut is disposed between the bending portion and thefirst end and a second cut is disposed between the bending portion andthe second end. The first cut is expandable to form a first opening andthe second cut is expandable to form a second opening.

Another exemplary insulator for a flue of a residential oven includes arectangular insulation blanket bendable at a bend location to form afirst leg and a second leg. The first leg has a first opening and thesecond leg has a second opening. The second opening is substantiallyaligned with the first opening when the insulator is in a bentcondition.

Still another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure relates toa method for using an insulator for a flue of a residential oven. Themethod includes providing an insulator comprising a bendable insulatingbody having a first end, a second end, a bending portion, a firstopening disposed between the first end and the bending portion, and asecond opening disposed between the second end and the bending portion;bending the insulator along the bending portion; and inserting the fluethrough the first and second openings. The first and second openings areformed by expanding first and second cuts in the bendable insulatingbody.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome better understood with regard to the following description andaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a prior art insulator assembled to a flue;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an exemplary insulation systemassembled to a flue;

FIG. 2B is a top view of the exemplary insulation system of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is a side view of the exemplary insulation system of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a plan view of an exemplary insulation blanket beforeassembly to a flue; and

FIG. 3B is a plan view of the exemplary insulation blanket of FIG. 3A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Prior to discussing the various embodiments, a review of the definitionsof some exemplary terms used throughout the disclosure is appropriate.Both singular and plural forms of all terms fall within each meaning.

As described herein, when one or more components are described as beingconnected, joined, affixed, coupled, attached, or otherwiseinterconnected, such interconnection may be direct as between thecomponents or may be indirect such as through the use of one or moreintermediary components. Also as described herein, reference to a“member,” “component,” or “portion” shall not be limited to a singlestructural member, component, or element but can include an assembly ofcomponents, members, or elements. Also as described herein, the terms“substantially” and “about” are defined as at least close to (andincludes) a given value or state (preferably within 10% of, morepreferably within 1% of, and most preferably within 0.1% of).

Referring now to FIG. 2A, an exemplary insulator 200 is shown. Theinsulator 200 protects objects surrounding a flue 202 from the hotgasses flowing through the flue 202. The insulator 200 is made from aninsulation blanket 210 or any bendable insulation body that is bent at abend or bending portion 212. A first leg 216 of the insulation blanket210 is formed between the bend 212 and the first end 214 of the blanket210. A second leg 222 of the blanket 210 is formed between the bend 212and the second end 220. A first opening 218 and a second opening 224 areformed in each of the first and second legs 216, 220, respectively. Insome embodiments, the insulation blanket 210 used in the insulation 200may be formed of glass fibers, mineral fibers, or the like. In someembodiments, the insulation blanket 210 may be about 1 inch to about 3inches thick. In some embodiments, the insulation 210 may be about 2inches thick.

The ends 214, 220 and openings 218, 224 are substantially aligned whenthe insulation blanket 210 is bent at the bend 212, allowing the flue202 to be inserted through both openings 218, 224. The bent insulationblanket 210 has an inner surface 226 and an outer surface 228. Theinsulator 200 is bent when it is assembled to the flue 202, therebycausing it to elastically deform. The elasticity of the material of theblanket 210 causes it to resist the bending force used to bend theinsulator, resulting in an elastic force that opposes the bending force.No adhesive or fastener is needed to hold the insulator 200 in place onthe flue 202 because the elastic force resisting the bending of theinsulator 200 causes the insulator to grip the flue 202 at the openings218, 224.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, a top view of the insulator 200 is shown. Theopenings 218, 224 position the flue 202 in the insulator 200 so that itis surrounded by the insulation blanket 210 on all sides. The size ofthe insulation blanket 210 and the position of the opening 218 areselected based on the required safety distance between the flue 202 andsurrounding objects. The hot gasses passing through the flue 202 heatthe flue 202 to up to around 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat from the flueis prohibited or otherwise retarded by the insulation blanket 210 fromflowing into the surrounding surfaces because the insulation blanket 210is a poor conductor of heat.

Referring now to FIG. 2C, a side view of the insulator 200 is shown.Bending the insulation blanket 210 generates tensile stress 230 near theouter surface 228 and compression stress 232 near the inner surface 226.Opposing restorative forces (i.e., the elastic force) in the insulationblanket 210 resist the bending, generating straightening forces 234 thatoppose the bending of the insulation blanket 210. The straighteningforces 234 exerted on each leg 216, 220 of the insulation blanket 210cause the areas of the insulation near the openings 218, 224 to bepressed against the flue 202 with gripping forces 236. The grippingforces 236 cause an increase in friction between the flue 202 and theinsulation blanket 210, thereby holding the insulation blanket 210 inplace along the flue 202. The magnitude of the gripping forces 236 isdirected related to the elasticity of the insulation blanket 210. Thefriction between the flue 202 and the insulation blanket 210 is directlyrelated to the magnitude of the gripping forces 236 and the frictioncoefficient of the materials used for the flue 202 and insulation.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, an exemplary insulator 300 for a flue(not shown) is shown in an unbent condition. The insulator 300 isgenerally rectangular in shape and formed of an insulation blanket 301similar to the insulation blanket 210 described above. The insulator 300has a first end 302, a second end 304, and a bending portion 306 betweenthe first and second ends 302, 304. In some embodiments, the bendingportion 306 may include relief cuts 308 to reduce the stiffness of theinsulation blanket 301 in the area of the bending portion 306.

Flue opening cuts 310 through the first and second ends 302, 304 allow aflue (not shown) to be inserted through both ends 302, 304 of theinsulator 300 when it is in a bent condition. A plurality of transversecuts 312 intersect the opening cuts 310 creating fingers 314 ofinsulation material that can be compressed to create a flue opening 320(FIG. 3B) large enough to fit accept a flue inserted through theinsulator 300. The fingers 314 expand to contact the flue to providegripping force in addition to the force supplied by the resistance tothe bending of the insulator 300. In some embodiments, at least one ofthe fingers 314 is compressed or expanded a different amount than theother fingers 314 to accommodate variations in the size and shape of theflue. In some embodiments, the fingers 314 compress different amounts toaccommodate a flue having a non-rectangular cross-section, such as, forexample, an ellipse, a circle, a rounded rectangle, or any other shapesuitable for a flue. In some embodiments, the opening cuts 310 areexpanded or stretched open to form the flue opening 320 without theaddition of any transverse cuts 312.

While various inventive aspects, concepts and features of thedisclosures may be described and illustrated herein as embodied incombination in the exemplary embodiments, these various aspects,concepts, and features may be used in many alternative embodiments,either individually or in various combinations and sub-combinationsthereof. Unless expressly excluded herein all such combinations andsub-combinations are intended to be within the scope of the presentapplication. Still further, while various alternative embodiments as tothe various aspects, concepts, and features of the disclosures—such asalternative materials, structures, configurations, methods, devices, andcomponents, alternatives as to form, fit, and function, and so on—may bedescribed herein, such descriptions are not intended to be a complete orexhaustive list of available alternative embodiments, whether presentlyknown or later developed. Those skilled in the art may readily adopt oneor more of the inventive aspects, concepts, or features into additionalembodiments and uses within the scope of the present application even ifsuch embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein. Additionally, eventhough some features, concepts, or aspects of the disclosures may bedescribed herein as being a preferred arrangement or method, suchdescription is not intended to suggest that such feature is required ornecessary unless expressly so stated. Still further, exemplary orrepresentative values and ranges may be included to assist inunderstanding the present application, however, such values and rangesare not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to becritical values or ranges only if so expressly stated. Moreover, whilevarious aspects, features and concepts may be expressly identifiedherein as being inventive or forming part of a disclosure, suchidentification is not intended to be exclusive, but rather there may beinventive aspects, concepts, and features that are fully describedherein without being expressly identified as such or as part of aspecific disclosure, the disclosures instead being set forth in theappended claims. Descriptions of exemplary methods or processes are notlimited to inclusion of all steps as being required in all cases, nor isthe order that the steps are presented to be construed as required ornecessary unless expressly so stated. The words used in the claims havetheir full ordinary meanings and are not limited in any way by thedescription of the embodiments in the specification.

What is claimed is:
 1. An insulator for a flue of a residential oven,the insulator comprising: a bendable insulating body having a first end,a second end, and a bending portion; a first cut disposed between thebending portion and the first end; and a second cut disposed between thebending portion and the second end; wherein the first cut is expandableto form a first opening; and wherein the second cut is expandable toform a second opening.
 2. The insulator of claim 1, wherein the bendableinsulating body is a rectangular prism.
 3. The insulator of claim 1,wherein the bendable insulation body is formed of fiberglass.
 4. Theinsulator of claim 1, wherein the first and second openings aresubstantially aligned when the bendable insulating body is in a bentcondition.
 5. The insulator of claim 1, wherein the bendable insulatingbody has a thickness in a range of about 1 inch to about 3 inches. 6.The insulator of claim 1, wherein the bendable insulation body has athickness of about 2 inches.
 7. The insulator of claim 1, furthercomprising a first plurality of transverse cuts across the first cut anda second plurality of transverse cuts across the second cut.
 8. Aninsulator for a flue of a residential oven, the insulator comprising: arectangular insulation blanket that is bendable at a bend location toform a first leg and a second leg; a first opening in the first leg; anda second opening in the second leg that is substantially aligned withthe first opening in the first leg when the insulator is bent at thebend location.
 9. The insulator of claim 8, wherein the rectangularinsulation blanket is formed of fiberglass.
 10. The insulator of claim8, wherein the rectangular insulation blanket has a thickness in a rangeof about 1 inch to about 3 inches.
 11. The insulator of claim 8, whereinthe rectangular insulation blanket has a thickness of about 2 inches.12. The insulator of claim 8, wherein: the first opening is formed by afirst cut and a first plurality of transverse cuts across the first cut;and the second opening is formed by a second cut and a second pluralityof transverse cuts across the second cut.
 13. A method of assembling aninsulator to a flue of a residential oven, the method comprising:providing an insulator comprising: a bendable insulating body having afirst end, a second end, and a bending portion; a first cut disposedbetween the bending portion and the first end; and a second cut disposedbetween the bending portion and the second end; wherein the first cut isexpandable to form a first opening; and wherein the second cut isexpandable to form a second opening; bending the insulator along thebending portion; and inserting the flue through the first and secondopenings.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the bendable insulatingbody is a rectangular prism.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein thebendable insulating body is a rectangular insulation blanket.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the bendable insulating body is formed offiberglass.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and secondopenings are substantially aligned when the bendable insulating body isin a bent condition.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the bendableinsulating body has a thickness in a range of about 1 inch to about 3inches.
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein the bendable insulation bodyhas a thickness of about 2 inches.
 20. The method of claim 13, whereinthe insulator comprises a first plurality of transverse cuts across thefirst cut and a second plurality of transverse cuts across the secondcut.